


Spake the Living

by PointlessJumpcut



Category: Animorphs - Katherine A. Applegate
Genre: Andalites, F/M, Family, Gen, Post-Canon, Post-War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-30
Updated: 2016-09-30
Packaged: 2018-08-18 16:39:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8168732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PointlessJumpcut/pseuds/PointlessJumpcut
Summary: After the war, Forlay reflects. On her sons. On her husband. On the daughter-in-law and grandson she didn't know she had. She and Noorlin are curious about the family they didn't know they had. What better way to get to know them than to meet them in person?





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Poetry](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Poetry/gifts).



The central spaceport on the Homeworld’s main continent is a tall, shining, bustling hive of activity that can be seen from miles and miles around, from the tall mountains in the west and south to the vast, flat grasslands that dominate the majority of the surrounding landscape.  

 

The Port is a small, but gleaming, speck on the horizon from Forlay’s family’s grazing lands. From when she was a little girl, she has wondered what the Andalites of long ago would think of it. They lived in cities, after all. Although she doesn’t know how they could stand living crammed on top of each other like that all the time.

 

She had been horrified when she saw old holovids of Andalites, crammed in hoof-to-tail on travelators, pedestrian platforms, and mag-lev trains as they went about their daily business. And crowding into those tiny grassed piazzas stuck in between those towering steel-and-glass towers just to eat must have been worse than trying to find some privacy to perform your morning ritual on a Domeship!

 

In short, Forlay liked the view of the Port more than she liked being inside it; its numerous twisting, winding maze of hallways made her feel claustrophobic. She was grateful to be an engineer: she rarely, if ever, had to travel to the Ellimist-cursed place.

 

Neither she nor Noorlin had been there since Aximili and Elfangor left on the _GalaxyTree_ almost four years ago, in fact. When the ship was destroyed, Lirem-Arrepath-Terrouss himself had travelled to their scoop to inform them of it…and of the apparent deaths of both of their sons. So to return to the same Port for such a joyous occasion was…well, cleansing.

 

The site she and Noorlin had both cursed for taking their boys to a dark, frightening, bloody place from which it appeared they would never return has now delivered them the blessed opportunity to reunite with their youngest son. And with some family they didn’t even know they had…

 

Forlay’s heart still ached for Elfangor, the son who had given his life in war to protect all that he loved, the son who would never return, the son whose body they couldn’t even return to the earth of his ancestors. But he had left them a final gift: a grandson and daughter-in-law.

 

The first time they had seen these humans – _Loren and Tobias_ , Forlay corrected herself. _Their names are Loren and Tobias_ – on the holoscreen, they hadn’t been sure what to say. The four of them just _stared_ at each other for a long, long moment.

 

It was Tobias – _their grandson,_ Forlay thought joyously. _Elfangor’s son!_ – who broke  the silence.

 

“Um, hello,” he said. “I’m Tobias. This is my mother, Loren.”

 

Forlay could not help but smile; Tobias had bright green eyes. Just like Elfangor.

 

< Hello, Tobias, Loren, > she had said. < I am Forlay. I am so pleased to be able to meet you both. >

 

It was not until she said those words that she realised she really did mean it. It _was_ a pleasure to meet them. They were humans, yes _._ But family, all the same.

 

And the very last piece of Elfangor they had left.

 

Noorlin had snapped himself out of his stunned silence and introduced himself. < Forlay and I both very much enjoy gathering with our families. So we are indeed pleased to have the opportunity to speak with you, finally, after having heard so much about you both from Aximili-kala, >

 

Loren’s eyes began to shimmer at his words, perhaps with moisture?

 

“We’re honoured to be included,” Loren said; her voice sounded slightly unsteady from strong emotion. “We’re honoured to be a part of your family.”

 

< You are most welcome to visit us, any time you would like, > Noorlin said in a rush. < I understand that you perhaps have not travelled in space before, and that it is different to land- and air-based forms of transportation, but as family, you are most welcome on our lands, any time you would like. But please do not feel obligated to do so! >

 

Forlay almost laughed at the amused, yet stunned, look on Aximili’s face at his father’s words. Some of the moisture in Loren’s eyes has trickled down one of her cheeks, but she is smiling.

 

“Thank you,” she says after a moment. “I can’t tell you how much that means.”

 

Tobias nods, his face nowhere near as expressive as that of his mother’s, which Forlay finds curious. But then she notices his eyes are somewhat wet as well.

 

In private thought-speak, Forlay said to Noorlin: < I have never been prouder to be your wife. >

 

And she means it with all her heart.

 

* * *

 

Forlay did not deny that she and Noorlin had both been shocked to discover Elfangor had a wife and son. A _human_ wife and son. That he had spent his three ‘lost’ years as a _nothlit_ on what was an isolated backwater of a world with a human woman he had fallen in love with. That they had a child together. That he had been unwillingly torn away from them so he could return to the war, where he died, bravely, at the hands of a monster.

 

That Elfangor only met his son once, and was then murdered right in front of that child’s eyes.

 

The fact that Elfangor and Tobias’ paths would cross right at the moment was a coincidence that made the fur at the back of Forlay’s neck stand on end.

 

Forlay knew, of course, that the human children who had fought the Yeerks with Aximili had the morphing power. She also knew there was almost no possible way that Aximili could have given the children that power, and that Elfangor was the one who made the choice. Who broke the law of _Seerow’s Kindness_.

 

But that one decision had been the critical turning point that turned the tide against the Yeerks, in a war they could not afford to lose.

 

And Forlay could not help but be proud of that.

 

* * *

 

They stood together on the observation deck, watching the cargo ships, shuttles and fighters land and take off. Forlay could tell Noorlin was nervous; his tail was swaying gently from side-to-side, close to the ground, and he was recanting to her, in a great rush, all he had discovered about human anatomy and history in abundant detail.

 

Forlay had to smile; Noorlin’s passion for medicine had been one of the first things that drew her to him. He had been so shy and quiet, but he had lit up like a supernova whenever Forlay asked him about his studies…

 

< Mother! >

 

Forlay turned around, smiling; she would know Aximili’s voice anywhere.

 

There were a number of well-trodden stereotypes about Andalites, most of which were based around ethnocentric arrogance and aloofness. Many Andalites – mostly members of the military, from whom many of the more negative stereotypes had stemmed in the first place – certainly prided themselves on being calm and dignified in all situations.

 

Forlay was not that Andalite.

 

She quite happily broke into a trot to meet her long-absent son and took his hands in her own.

 

< My son, > she said. < My precious, precious son. It is so very, very good to see you. >

 

< And you, Mother, > Aximili said, tenderness and love in his eyes as he squeezed her hands with his own.

 

She had _missed_ him.

 

Noorlin trotted up beside them and touched his tail blade to his son’s. < Aximili-kala, > he said, softly. His smile was warm.

 

< I have some people with me who would very much like to meet you, > Aximili said to them.

 

< They came with you? > Noorlin asked, clearly amazed.

 

Aximili’s smile grows. < They did. >

 

Two humans in a sea of Andalites do indeed stand out, and their pale skin and golden hair caught the midday sunlight like a beacon.

 

But when they turned around to face them, Forlay’s breath caught. They were so alien; Forlay had never seen a human up close before. But they were not alien in the way a Taxxon or a Hork-Bajir were. They were not…frightening…in their differences.

 

For a start, their torsos did not look so dissimilar to that of an Andalite. Although Forlay did wonder how they managed to stay upright on only two legs when they did not even have a _tail_ to help their balance.

 

< Loren, Tobias, this is my mother, Forlay, and my father, Noorlin, > Aximili was saying.

 

< Hello, > Noorlin said, stepping forward, extending his hand in greeting. < It is a great pleasure to meet you. >

 

Loren smiled and stepped forward, taking Noorlin’s hand in her own; Tobias hovered near her shoulder, watching carefully.

 

“The pleasure is all ours,” she said softly. “Thank you so much for your invitation. I hope we didn’t come far earlier than you would like us to?”

 

< Not at all! > Forlay said, stepping forward, hand outstretched. Loren takes her hand and smiled. Her eyes are moist again; Forlay knows now that tears can be a sign of sadness or joy in humans. < We do not make a habit of extending invitations we do not mean to honour. We are most pleased you have come to stay with us. >

 

Tobias stepped out from behind his mother’s shoulder, and Loren turned to smile at him, and he smiled in return, the expression spreading slowly across his face.

 

Forlay had to smile as well. Even though they were different species, she recognised the universality of Loren’s gesture to Tobias: a mother encouraging her son.

 

< Tobias, > Forlay and Noorlin said, inadvertently, in unison.

 

He smiled, somewhat nervously, and Forlay realised Tobias had – somehow – inherited Noorlin’s shyness.

 

< Our grandson, > Forlay whispered, touching his face. < We are so very glad to meet you. >

 

“I’m…I’m really glad to meet you as well,” he said, his voice quiet and the smile still on his face. Forlay noticed his eyes were now watering as well. “I know this must be kind of…weird…for you guys...”

 

< Our family prides itself on its eccentricity, > Noorlin said suddenly, and Forlay had to laugh.

 

< Your grandfather is right, Tobias, > she said sagely; Tobias’ breath hitched as she said ‘grandfather’. It felt so good to say that word aloud. < I am afraid both my family and his are mostly only as traditional as we have to be to avoid banishment from polite society. >

 

Tobias and Loren both laugh, a delightful sound. Forlay does not believe she is alone when she thinks she would like to hear it again.

 

< Come, let us show you our home, > Noorlin said. < We have much to talk about. >


End file.
